Hunter looking for key U20s contribution from Robson

England kick off their Under-20s' Junior World Championship bid against Italy today and Rob Hunter believes Dan Robson can play a pivotal role.

England Under-20s boss Hunter hailed young Gloucester scrum-half Robson as his age-group side's 'standout performer' from the Six Nations campaign.

And now Hunter believes the Stoke-on-Trent-born half-back can help carry the Under-20s to new levels in the upcoming world competition in South Africa.

Robson is making great strides with the Cherry and Whites, and the 20-year-old will compete with All Black World Cup winner Jimmy Cowan and Dave Lewis for the number nine shirt next term, as his first team Kingsholm impact increases.

Gloucester trio Robson, centre Ryan Mills and hooker Koree Britton have all once again made Hunter's squad.

All three were involved in last year's world contest, where England lost out to New Zealand in the final.

England face Italy, Ireland and South Africa in the space of eight days, starting on June 4, and Hunter anticipates a fierce battle to progress from Pool B.

And he believes it is men like Robson - who know how to push his squad in the right direction - who will be to the fore if England are to enjoy a fruitful campaign.

Hunter said the Under-20s coaches have steadily increased the responsibilities on their players, in a bid to boost both their game sense and their leadership skills.

While one aim is to see the players profit in the long-run, Hunter said he also hopes it will pay dividend out in South Africa.

He explained:

"Dan was probably the standout performer from the Six Nations to be honest.

"He really stepped up a level, and not just in his performances on the field.

"We've asked the players to take high levels of responsibility, we've asked them to lead analysis sessions, asking them to present the problems from matches as they see them, and then talk about how we tackle them.

"And it's worked very well. Dan has been at the forefront of things like that, but also in training, and then on the field too, he has really come forward as a leader, and he has demanded certain levels of himself, but also the others too.

"It has really rubbed off on others, and they have take extra steps with him.

"When players get to that point where they start to move forward like that themselves, of their own accord, that's when we know we're on the right track as coaches in the age-groups.

"Of course we want to win the competitions we enter, that's a huge aim.

"But also, our other huge role here is to help prepare these players for higher levels, both the Premiership and beyond.

"And we've got to work as hard as we can with them to prepare them for, hopefully, going all the way through the England system right to the full national side.

"The more players who graduate from the Under-20s to full recognition, in some respect, the more successful we become."

Hunter said England can only progress from their pool if they deploy their full resources smartly.

He continued:

"We've got a very demanding fixture programme in the pool, and we know that we must use all our resources in order to produce our best rugby.

"It will be a massive test for us, but we've seen these players develop well over the season and we're very excited by the challenges ahead."

After a good start, and dominating for long periods at the Ricoh, skipper Tom Savage spoke after the Wasps defeat to GRTV about the small things that Gloucester have to work on as well as focussing on some of the positives.

Gloucester Rugby will take on Wasps on Sunday in their first ever visit in the Aviva Premiership to the Ricoh Arena. Speaking to the local media today, Director of Rugby David Humphreys previewed the game as well as giving an update on the injured Henry Trinder.

Following the 48-10 Aviva Premiership win over London Welsh on Saturday, Dan Murphy praised his team mates for battling right up to the very last minute in difficult conditions and maintaining the momentum that the team have built in 2015.

Henry Purdy scored two memorable tries against London Welsh at Kingsholm on Saturday, and attributed the first one to hard work on the training ground before describing how much he's enjoying playing his rugby alongside friends like Callum Braley.

Premiership Rugby today announces a new partnership with Singha Beer, which confirms the premium Thai lager as the new title sponsor of the Premiership Rugby 7s Series and an official partner of Premiership Rugby.